Fishing is a favorite pastime of many people who live near streams, rivers, lakes, or other bodies of water which harbor environments that are suitable for populations of fish to live in. There are several different reasons as to why people fish, with the two main reasons being for enjoyment and food. Many people consider fishing to be an extremely relaxing activity, no doubt partially due to the relaxed nature of the task, and the natural surroundings in which the activity of fishing often places the fisherman. Fishing often takes place on the bank of a river or lake, on a pier, in a stream or river, or on a boat. Most of these locations are typically considered to be very calm and serene, or at the very least, highly enjoyable to the senses. The fisherman is usually able to feel a reconnection with nature by way of the activity of fishing and the locations where it is performed. This reconnection with nature is one of the major driving factors in why fishing is such a popular activity, especially in the summer months. In the modernized world, people live surrounded by technology which drives a hectic and fast paced way life which is even more exaggerated when living in a metropolitan area such as a city. People who have personally experienced this way of life can tell you that eventually it can get extremely annoying and stressful when sustained for long periods of time. Fishing allows people to take a step back from the modernized world and relax in nature by performing an activity that is an ancient human art, and requires only the most basic of mechanical technology in order to perform. This fact is the main reason why fishing is often performed by individuals as a favored pastime, and fishing for this purpose is often referred to as recreational fishing; it is however not the only reason to fish.
The other reason to fish, and perhaps more important reason to fish in many parts of the world, is a more basic and primal reason; to obtain food. Fish is well known as an excellent source of protein and many vitamins and minerals which are vital to human survival. As a result of this fact, fish serves as the main source of protein in many cultures diets, even to this very day. Societies which have developed near bodies of water which support large populations of marine animals have inevitably developed a taste for fish, as it is an excellent primary source of protein. There are many different techniques which have been developed to catch fish in quantities large enough to support the protein needs of a village; this is often referred to as subsistence fishing, and is still practiced in many parts of the world where fish are the most readily available source of protein.
Fishing for food can be broken down into two main groups, commercial fishing, and traditional fishing. Commercial fishing is characterized as any large scale operation in which extremely large quantities of fish are caught in order to be shipped and sold around the world. Commercial fishing often makes use of large boats referred to as fishing boats, which are equipped with massive booms and nets which they drag in the water in order to catch huge quantities of fish efficiently. Traditional fishing by contrast is a much smaller operation and usually involves only a handful or one individual making use of tried and true fishing equipment to catch a small to moderate amount of fish for personal consumption or local sale. As such, recreational fishing itself falls under the umbrella of what can be considered to be traditional fishing, particularly if the recreational fisherman intends to keep and consume the fish that they catch. Some of the traditional methods which were developed to catch fish, and are still in use today, include hand net fishing, trap fishing, bow and arrow fishing, spear fishing, and angling.
Angling is perhaps one of the most common forms of fishing used in recreational fishing in the modern world. Modern angling typically involves the use of a line with a sharpened hook at the end, with the line is run through what is known as a fishing rod. The fishing rod comprises a rod and a reel. The rod helps to guide the line and give the fisherman greater control over the line while the reel is intended to store excess line, release line, and pull in the line when necessary. There are several subgroups of angling with a rod, perhaps the most common of which being fly fishing. Fly fishing typically involves the use of a specialized fishing rod and lures called flies. This specialized equipment is coupled with a unique casting technique to lure the fish into striking the fly, thus allowing the fisherman to land the fish if the situation is handled properly. One of the iconic characteristics of fly fishing, particularly freshwater fly fishing, is the fact that the fisherman often wades out some distance into the water in order to better reach areas where fish are likely to be located.
The fact that the fisherman is usually in the water during the fly fishing presents a unique challenge to one simple question; what does the fisherman do with the fish they have caught before they return to shore? The answer is typically an apparatus known as a stringer. A stringer is a simple apparatus which comprises a line with a ring on one end and a dull spike on the other. This line is often secured to the fisherman's vest at one end, and tied shut with the other end. When a fish is caught, the stringer line is untied and then run through the fish's mouth, out through the gills, and then retied to the fisherman's vest, thereby securing the fish and also allowing the fish to remain in the water if the stringer line is long enough. This is an effective method of keeping fish caught by the fisherman before returning to shore, however it suffers from a number of disadvantages. First and foremost, it is rather difficult for a fisherman to untie the end of a thin line when one is knee or even waist deep in sometimes running water with no way to put down their fishing rod. The second issue is the fact that the lines used in stringers are often uncovered and can be rough in texture. This can not only make it difficult to slide the fish down the line, but also has the potential to damage the gills of the fish, thus possibly causing it to die earlier. It is resultantly an object of the present invention to solve the issues mentioned above by introducing a snapping fish stringer which can be easily opened and then secured closed again, thereby making it very easy to load fish onto the line. It is a further object of the present invention to ensure that the fish quickly and easily slides along the line, thereby decreasing difficult for the user, and decreasing trauma on the fish.